My Easter Poem for 2018 I wrote and entered in Poetry Soup's "Easter - 2018" Contest, asking for a poem about Easter with a contemporary theme...

"Easter, THEE Sacrifice"

Easter will again be here and very soon,But Easter brings sadness I cannot seem to prune.After my Mother left, Easter's not the sameSince our Lord, to bring her home, called upon her name.Easter this year in two thousand and eighteenWill be even harder, I cannot contravene.For my little girl, who's not so little any moreWill spend this Easter far away, on a distant shore.So many memories of Easter though, will decorate my brain,As I turn back the clock, letting all share the reign.All the Easter baskets and the Easter hunts so fun,Each memory I dust off carefully, every precious one.I'll watch the Ten Commandments, keep our tradition true,Remembering Easter's true meaning, Jesus is why we do.When God Sacrificed His Son, what a Sacrifice He made,For through the Blood of Jesus, our sins for, He paid.When I think of God being stricken so with profound griefTo watch His Son suffer on the cross forbidden of relief,This brings to mind surreally the magnitude of painI'm unable to comprehend and my tears I can't restrain.For I think of my daughter and all those overseas,Who put their lives on the line without guaranteesThey'll come home safe and sound when their tour is doneAnd also, all the families who've lost a dear, loved one.I know this is not the same but I more so realizeAnd I am humbled so profoundly as I can't visualizeThe cost of God's Sacrifice because God so Loves us allAnd to my knees it brings me, for I can only God, extol.

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

I belong to a wonderful website for poets, called Poetry Soup, where I recently became a lifetime member. The website has plenty of resources, information, and tools to help poets with their poetry writing. It offers a number of contests for inspiration in a variety of poetic formats/styles. Poetry Soup is a professionally, well run website (which I find to be very refreshing), where member poets are encouraged to encourage and support other member poets, while inappropriate, disrespectful, and abusive behaviour is NOT tolerated, making the overall atmosphere warm and friendly and very conducive for making a 'creative environment'. I encourage poets who haven't found a website to fit your poetic expressive needs to checkout Poetry Soup.With this said, this poem and story was inspired by the picture I'm posting with it, presented in one of the contests on the site, called "Picture This", hosted by Joseph May. I've been missing being on a website with contests that inspire me to challenge my expression. ♥

As the life of the day nears its last breath,With a glow of crimson, forewarning its death,Upon its cresting, the reflection, daunting,The sea sets free a beauty, hauntingThe depths of its treasures of unknown span,The Queen Of Pearls, secluded from man.This queen, a beauty of figure, a maiden so fair,With glistening gold locks finer than Pele's hairAnd eyes that blend with her homing sea green,Lips sweeter than honey for a honeycomb's queen,Once a fortnight, this Queen Of The Sea,As Mr. Moon swoons, she comes for me.I wander each eve along the sea's shore,When near is the time, I long, live for,Watching intently for the tell tale signOf soon again, she will be mine.Though my patience is tried over many a night,I know very soon the time will be right."Will I see her again; will she come out?"Puncturing my heart with needles of doubt,Is fear I'm pained with before each time we meet,As though and worse than gripped by mesquite.Then as the tide comes in, over the incoming foam,For an auspicious clue, my eyes desperately roam.The sign, the signal, I must not missFor I can taste so sweet her magical kiss.My heart couldn't take the grief of such woe,If I were to become no longer her beau.The pressure is on, for surrounding meIs somewhere a message, elusive, a mystery.Each time the message comes in by way of unique,For I must earn and prove I'm worthy to seekThis maiden so fair of beauty unsurpassedAnd continually I must, if our Love is to last.Only one common factor am I to ever know;A pearl will appear, in some way show.Her signature, a pearl, confirms her requestAnd one of the finest, only the best.My Love is not just a queen of the deep sea;She is the Queen Of Pearls, her royal majesty.Sometimes I wonder why it is I she chose,But it's a secret kept, for the sea only knows.Once a seagull brought and dropped one in the sand,From the sky above, next to me to on purpose land.Another time, a sea lion rolled in with the tideAnd flipped a pearl to me as he winked with pride.Yet, another time, I was beckoned out into the sea,By a whale that spouted a pearl then straight to me.As my anxiety grows to an unbearable stateAnd just when I feel I can no longer wait,With flippers anchored and a look of daring,In a coat of gold, his mischief, baring,I knew at once that what I soughtWas now before me with a troubling thought.For I knew a challenge he had predesigned,To acquire this pearl would take wit of mind.Since my heart's condition was at stake,I had no room for error nor one mistake.What would be tempting too much for him;Catch him off guard to forfeit the gem?Through files of thoughts I ran a quick scan,Searching to find the one fool proof plan.Then he made a face at me and straight awayIt triggered a thought from a yesterday,When Andre, the seal, harboured a 'tude,He stuck out his tongue and blew to be rude.So, like Andre I leaned in and did the same,At the seal's face, I took a precise aim.I stuck out my tongue and blew in his face.Surprised, he hadn't time to against me, brace.The temptation too great, he returned the favourAnd the pearl became mine only to savour.Though he was unhappy he had been tricked,I was elated as my dilemma had been licked.With all my strength, clenched in my fistWas my ticket to passion when I was kissedBy my maiden of Love to meet on the pier,Where soon now I knew she would appear.As though on wings, my feet did flyTo the pier in waiting where at last, IWould be joined in Love with my queen,As soon as she appeared upon the scene.When I arrived, she was waiting thereTo rise out of the sea, my maiden, fair.As she rose, I pulled her so close to meAnd as we locked our lips, she magicallyTransformed into a lady, full human form,Extraordinary and far from norm.We danced, made Love; laughed and cried,Baring all of our emotions from inside.No moment was wasted, no second in time,In sync we were with both rhythm and rhyme.But time flies by too quickly it seems,When you're with the only star of your dreams.All too soon a new day was being bornAnd a sun of gold was greeting the morn.As she stood on the pier elegantly dressed,All onlookers couldn't have ever guessedThat my lady, my queen, lived in the seaAnd transformed back, she soon would be.As we were saying our sad good-bye,A flock of witnesses then flew by.Letting her go each time to return to the deep,Is harder than the promise to her I made to keep.Though I'm elated with joy, new memories made,I must again for a fortnight through longing, wade.As she slips quietly back into the waiting sea,My tears like rivers, shower her adoringly.The returning back to my homing place,With my tears washing my distraught face,I clutch the pearl, the precious stone,And seek only now with myself to be alone.Since there's nothing better than the best,I can only look forward to her next request.I hear a persistent knock upon my door,As I awaken, for me, someone's looking for.At first confused, I glanced around,As again came that knocking sound."What a dream of fantasy. Wow!" I thought.But then a pearl from my dream along I'd brought...

Sunday, March 25, 2018

With some people it's difficult to figure out their path of what they perceive to be logic, when their actions and behaviour make absolutely no sense whatsoever. Trying to reason with such individuals is futile. Yet, these same individuals will have the audacity to label you as crazy. It's too bad there aren't mirrors to give these individuals, that when they would look into such a mirror, they would actually SEE themselves as they show themselves to others, instead of looking at themselves as their ego tells them they are. ♥

"Addict Of A Different Sort"

THIS is definitely a serious affliction, even have to seek me out on PoetrySoup!

PATHETIC!

Someone that I know has a serious affliction,Not chemically induced though, is their addiction.He is always needing another dose or fixIn one way or another or in ways, a mix.Though I don't know why, how he became addicted,He clearly shows to me he's definitely afflicted.He believes he doesn't give indistinct hintsAnd no, he doesn't, just very distinct glints.Now, what I will describe will seem silly indeed,But to the one afflicted, it's an unhealthy need.He cannot help himself for he cannot stay awayFrom this need of his of a fix each and every day.So, continually, consistently, he follows me aroundTo see what I'm doing and to hear my voice, the sound.Although to me, such seems too preposterous to picture,In his life he has made me a permanent fixture. Eleven years and counting, this has been underway.One would think he'd tire to waste his life this way.But it seems the more time that does goes by,His addiction deepens and still I know not why.As with every addict, his response is the same,Denies he is is obsessed, refusing thus to claim.But as with every addict who can't themselves, see,To those looking on, the picture's painted clearly.Oh, but there's more that needs to be saidAnd his logic will make you dizzy in your head.He emphatically states he wants nothing to do with me,But who is the one stalking to make his presence be?His actions and behaviour tell everything to knowAnd for his addiction, he'll stoop to a level, low.Eavesdropping is illegal, as is privacy invasion,But somehow he justifies his every violation.As with every addict, their admission of's a must.Or else attempts to free themselves will be a bust.Once this obstacle is met; head on, squarely faced,The cause(es) of their addiction can then be traced.I can only feel sorry for him, the prison he is in.What a heavy burden he carries all around, within.For one's life to be dependent upon such a cruxCan only be pathetic, a life that only sucks.I wish I could help him but there's nothing I can do,Although I've tried to show him there's good in him, too.Even though he stalks me, clings to my every word,He resents me greatly, making him appear even more absurd.Perhaps, my perception could be altered a bit,If I thought for a second I was with his heart a hit.Then I could at least be able to somewhat comprehendThe reason for his constant watch that seems without end.But change can only come when he chooses to make itAnd not rely on his ego, enabling him to fake it.To be someone's fix is not pleasant in the least,When all you say and do is consistently policed.